Association of Cord Blood Glucose, Sodium, Potassium, and Calcium Levels With Neonatal Birth Asphyxia: A Hospital-Based Study.

Context Neonatal birth/perinatal asphyxia is a serious condition with the potential to cause damage to various tissues of the body especially the brain. Hypoxia can cause metabolic disturbances, which in turn can lead to imbalances in the levels of glucose, electrolytes, and calcium, which can further worsen the condition. Early detection of these biochemical derangements and immediate correction can prevent the complications and lifelong disabilities of birth asphyxia due to injury to vital organs particularly the brain. The aim is to assess any correlation between the cord blood glucose, electrolytes, and calcium levels and the severity of birth asphyxia. Methods and material In this study, 50 birth asphyxia neonates with birth weight >2.5 kg, and a 5-minute Apgar score ≤ 6 at birth with clinical evidence of asphyxia were compared with healthy neonates with birth weight > 2.5 kg, and a 5-minute Apgar score > 7. In all the cases and controls, cord blood glucose was estimated by glucose oxidase and peroxidase (GOD-POD) method, total calcium by Arsenazo method, and sodium and potassium were estimated by ion-selective Electrode (ISE) method using fully automated biochemistry analyzers. Results The mean cord blood concentrations of glucose, sodium, potassium, and calcium were significantly lower among birth asphyxia neonates in comparison with that of controls (p < 0.05). The correlation coefficient (r) for the study variables among cases indicates that there is a low to moderate positive correlation between the 5-minute Apgar score which is a measure of severity of birth asphyxia and cord blood concentrations of glucose, sodium, and calcium. Conclusion In our study, birth asphyxiated neonates were found to have statistically significant low levels of cord blood glucose and electrolytes like sodium and calcium except for potassium. There was a low to moderate positive correlation between cord blood glucose and electrolyte concentrations with the severity of birth asphyxia. Analysis of cord blood for these simple biochemical tests can help pediatricians in the active management of birth asphyxia cases.

Impact of daily high dose oral vitamin D therapy on the inflammatory markers in patients with COVID 19 disease.

COVID 19 is known to cause immune dysregulation and vitamin D is a known immunomodulator. This study aims to objectively investigate the impact of Pulse D therapy in reducing the inflammatory markers of COVID-19. Consented COVID-19 patients with hypovitaminosis D were evaluated for inflammatory markers (N/L ratio, CRP, LDH, IL6, Ferritin) along with vitamin D on 0th day and 9th/11th day as per their respective BMI category. Subjects were randomised into VD and NVD groups. VD group received Pulse D therapy (targeted daily supplementation of 60,000 IUs of vitamin D for 8 or 10 days depending upon their BMI) in addition to the standard treatment. NVD group received standard treatment alone. Differences in the variables between the two groups were analysed for statistical significance. Eighty seven out of one hundred and thirty subjects have completed the study (VD:44, NVD:43). Vitamin D level has increased from 16 ± 6 ng/ml to 89 ± 32 ng/ml after Pulse D therapy in VD group and highly significant (p < 0.01) reduction of all the measured inflammatory markers was noted. Reduction of markers in NVD group was insignificant (p > 0.05). The difference in the reduction of markers between the groups (NVD vs VD) was highly significant (p < 0.01). Therapeutic improvement in vitamin D to 80-100 ng/ml has significantly reduced the inflammatory markers associated with COVID-19 without any side effects. Hence, adjunctive Pulse D therapy can be added safely to the existing treatment protocols of COVID-19 for improved outcomes.

Efficiency of vitamin D supplementation in patients with mechanical low back ache.

BACKGROUND: Preliminary evidence suggests an association of hypovitaminosis D (hypo.D) with mechanical Low back ache (mLBA). AIM: This study was designed to 1. Explore the relationship of hypovitaminosis D with mLBA in the absence of other confounding factors 2. Formulate and validate an appropriate treatment protocol and 3. Explore the differences in outcomes with various oral formulations of vitamin D available in Indian market. MATERIALS & METHODS: Three randomised groups of patients with mLBA and hypo.D between 18 and 45 years of age without any co morbid conditions were studied for the effectiveness of adjunctive vit.D supplementation of 6,00,000 IUs (60,000 IUs/day for ten consecutive days) in the form of granule or nano syrup or soft gel capsule for the treatment of mLBA. Review evaluation of pain, functional disability and vit.D was done at three weeks and an additional evaluation of vit.D was done at nine months. Evaluation with 3,00,000 IUs of vit.D (60,000 IUs/day for five consecutive days) was done with nano syrup in a different cohort. RESULTS: High prevalence of hypo.D (96%) was noted in patients with mLBA. Significant improvement was noted after supplementation of vit.D. The subjects of nano syrup group have shown significantly better improvement compared to others (P < 0.000). Non obese and chronic patients have shown significantly better results than their peers. Though there was significant difference in vit.D before treatment, the difference of improvement between the genders, deficiency and insufficiency, in-door and out-door, smokers and non smoker subgroups was not significant. Seasonal variation in vit.D before and after the treatment was significant. CONCLUSION: Hypovitaminosis D can be a potential causative factor for mLBA in addition to the other known causes. Proper evaluation and adjunctive vit.D supplementation can effectively break the vicious cycle of low back ache with significant improvement in serum vit.D level, effective relief of pain and significant functional improvement without any adverse effects. Improvement in vit.D was not significantly related to its initial status and obese individuals have shown significantly lesser improvement. The results with nano syrup formulation were significantly better compared to others. Formulation based dosage adjustments assume significance in view of these results.

Hypovitaminosis D in patients with osteoporotic hip fractures.

BACKGROUND: Inadequate serum vitamin D levels are associated with secondary hyperparathyroidism, increased bone turnover, bone loss and increased fracture risk. Vitamin D is well recognized to be suboptimal in older patients when compared to age-matched controls. There are no published studies on the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in Indian population with fragility fractures around the hip associated with osteoporosis and comminution at the fracture site. AIM: To investigate the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in patients admitted with osteoporotic hip fractures and associated fracture site comminution in a South Indian Institute. MATERIAL & METHODS: A prospective cross sectional study was conducted on 100 patients admitted with osteoporotic hip fracture. Measurement of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D was done and the same was correlated with the degree of osteoporosis using Singh's index and fracture site comminution. RESULTS: Out of 100 patients studied, 92% had hypovitaminosis D with mean vitamin D level of 16.08 ±â€¯5.95 ng/dl (65% vitamin D deficiency with mean 13.16 ±â€¯4.24 ng/dl and 27% vitamin D insufficiency with mean 23.11 ±â€¯2.62 ng/dl) and 94% had osteoporosis with Singh's index grade 3 or less. Out of the 36 patients with fracture site comminution 34 patients (94%) had hypovitaminosis D and 33 patients (91.6%) had osteoporosis. Statistical significance was established for all the variables. CONCLUSION: Significant association was found between hypovitaminosis D, osteoporosis and fracture site comminution. High prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in patients presenting with hip fractures and fracture site comminution implicates the necessity for proper evaluation and effective supplementation of vitamin D in elderly patients along with anti-osteoporotic regimens for effective prevention and appropriate management of osteoporotic hip fractures.

Comparison of Urinary Total Proteins by Four Different Methods.

The total proteins in human urine have been compared by sulfosalicylic acid, sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate and trichloroacetic acid methods with pyrogallol red molybdate method as there are no studies found quantifying imprecision and bias components. Fresh urine of 36 patients was analyzed by four methods. Imprecision and inaccuracy were determined by repeated analysis and method comparison studies using correlation plots, Bland and Altman, and Passing and Bablok regression analyses respectively. The coefficient of variation was 5.07 % for pyrogallol red molybdate; 6.84 % for sulfosalicylic acid; 3.97 % for sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate and 5.93 % for trichloroacetic acid methods. Bland and Altman analysis showed a bias of 5.8, 1.7 and -5.4 for pyrogallol red molybdate versus sulfosalicylic acid, sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate and trichloroacetic acid methods respectively. Passing and Bablok regression revealed a constant bias for pyrogallol red molybdate versus all turbidimetric methods but a proportional bias only with trichloroacetic acid method. Sulfosalicylic acid with sodium sulphate method is preferred to sulfosalicylic acid and trichloroacetic acid methods.